Peeing in crate?
 

UGH......I think I have the only dog in the world that does not care about peeing in his own home. Does any one else have a puppy that goes potty in their crate? I have just started crating him and he is 6 1/2 months old. I take him out every 2 - 3 hours but he still goes potty in his crate - I thought dogs would not do that in less they HAD to. Oh and the crate is not too big - it is just big enough for him to lay down, stand up and turn around. I made sure we got one that was small enough. I know he can hold it longer than this - any suggestions?

Did you get your pup from a pet store? Sometimes when they come from pet stores they are used to going in their cages and lose that instinct of not going where they sleep. Nikko has done the same thing in his crate and he is only in there over night. Maybe you are leaving him too long in there. I wish I had advice but all I can say is don't feel bad, there are other dogs out there that have done the same thing. Mine included;)

Does he have food and toys in the crate, if not I would put some in it. Also, is he crate trained in the sense that he likes being in his crate?? I have found that if they really like their crate they will try to avoid peeing in it as much as possible whereas those who don't like being in the crate will pee in it all the time. Also, do you have a towel or blanket in the crate?? If you do, remove it right away, they love peeing on towel and blankets because they absorb most of the moisture to where they don't have to lay in their pee.

I think he likes the crate for the most part becasue if he is tiered he will go in it to sleep. He sleeps with us in the night but during the day when we are at work we are trying to keep him in this so we can teach him to control his bladder. Like i said before he is 6 1/2 months old so 2 -3 hours should not be too long. I do have a towel in there so maybe I should take that out and he might stop going in there! Thanks for the advice!

Hobbs used to be BAD about going potty in his crate! I did everything. But ultimately, I realized the crate was too big. Are you sure that the crate you have is not too big? Are you sure you can't make it any smaller? I bought the tiniest crate ever for Hobbs and I thought that was the right size. But, after suggestions from YTers, I blocked half the crate off with some books. I kept a clean towel in there for comfort. But you know what? Since the day I made his crate smaller, he stopped going to the bathroom in there. It was amazing! After a few weeks, I took the books out just to see what he would do. And sure enough, he peed in there!!!!!!!!! So, the books went back in and stayed in until he was completely potty trained (until he was 8 months old). Now he has free roam of the house.

How big is your puppy? How big is your crate? I would suggest just trying to make it as small as possible because that seemed to be the only thing that worked for me.

For crate training you don't want to put food or water in with them. Nor do you want to put a blanket in there. If your puppy is small then you'll want to let him out after a couple hours or so. I would offer food and water then. As they get older then you increase the time that they're in the kennel. When Reuger was no longer peeing or pooping in the kennel (and had full use of the whole kennel) I put a blanket in with him.

If you've made the kennel smaller and he's still going in it, then I would say he still has too much room. He still has room to go in one corner and sleep in the other corner. I would add another small box and make his space smaller yet and see how that goes.

you need to take them out more often more like every hour until they get to where they let you know they have to go out. yorkies are smaller dogs and have smaller bladdres they can't hold it as long as other dogs.

Thanks so much for the advice – I truly appreciate it. I am really trying to get him to learn to hold it until we come home to let him out just so it is better living situations for all of us. I hate taking him places and not being able to trust weather he will potty in someone’s house or not. In regards to my crate for him – I guess maybe it is too big – I have attached a picture of a very similar carte for him. I measured it and it is about 24 inches long by 16 inches wide. After looking at the petsmart page and size chart I guess I have something called a junior size and may need an x-small for him. Do you think this picture is too big? He is currently almost 7 months old and is 4 pounds. How big was your crate for your little guy after making it smaller with the books? Thanks so much again!

If your little guy is only 4 lbs, that crate is WAY too big, at least for now. After I put the books in Hobbs' crate, it was about 6'' long and 6'' wide. When I say he only had enough room to stand up, turn around, and lay down, that is really ALL he could do. If he were to go potty in there, he would be laying right on top of it. I did put a CLEAN towel in there...I didn't want him to be too uncomfortable. I also wrapped the books in a clean towel, just in case he had any accidents. Definately NO food and NO water in the crate and NO food and NO water right before you put him in the crate. When Hobbs was over the threat of hypoglocemia (and I'm sure your little one is over that stage, too, being 4 lbs and 7 months old), we took up his food and water all day and then put it out at 5:00pm when we were home for the evening and left it out for the rest of the night. You may want to consider doing this, too. I am sure that once you make the crate smaller and restrict his food and water during the day that you will be amazed at the results!!!!! Trust me, I understand how you feel bc we had the hardest time with Hobbs going potty in his crate. But these two things (restricting food and water, making crate small) definately worked for us. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me! I would love to be of assistance in any way. Good luck, and keep us updated on how he does!